Liberals were perfectly willing to throw reporters in prison during the Valerie Plame incident. The right of reporters to protect their sources was cast right out the damn window by the ardent free press supporters known as liberals.

So the rest of that headline is "...the reporter doesn't have information that can be used against a Republican"

Bonus: the information Winter got from her sources - which Aurora's* defense team is pushing her to release - is thought to be a boon for prosecutors, as it shows planning and a pattern of violence (which are blows against an insanity plea).

Yeah, it must get frustrating for the many(not all) conservatives who would deny rights to anyone who doesn't share their political views/values to see that the 'libruls' want to defend the rights of someone who works for the other team.

randomjsa:Liberals were perfectly willing to throw reporters in prison during the Valerie Plame incident. The right of reporters to protect their sources was cast right out the damn window by the ardent free press supporters known as liberals.

So the rest of that headline is "...the reporter doesn't have information that can be used against a Republican"

I love how you go right for your point and then scurry back into your hole whenever someone points out the flaws in your argument.

This always happens. COntrary to popular belief there is no legal "reporter's privilege" the way there is for doctors, lawyers, priests , spouses, therapists, etc. So what always happens is somebody get pissed over the leak, the reporter is pressed to reveal thier source, they refuse, a judge orders them to do it, they still refuse, they go to jail for contempt of court, much media hand-wringing ensues, at some point the judge realizes that the reporter is never going to comply, at which point they have the option of converting the case into a criminal contempt prosecution for which the reporter can get six months in jail, or letting the reporter go, which they invariably do. So why do it at all? Because A) the law says they have to, and B) a lot of times there is hope that seeing the reporter rot in jial puts pressure on the source to out themselves

Dr Dreidel:Bonus: the information Winter got from her sources - which Aurora's* defense team is pushing her to release - is thought to be a boon for prosecutors, as it shows planning and a pattern of violence (which are blows against an insanity plea).

randomjsa:Liberals were perfectly willing to throw reporters in prison during the Valerie Plame incident. The right of reporters to protect their sources was cast right out the damn window by the ardent free press supporters known as liberals.

So the rest of that headline is "...the reporter doesn't have information that can be used against a Republican"

Rwa2play:randomjsa: Liberals were perfectly willing to throw reporters in prison during the Valerie Plame incident. The right of reporters to protect their sources was cast right out the damn window by the ardent free press supporters known as liberals.

So the rest of that headline is "...the reporter doesn't have information that can be used against a Republican"

I love how you go right for your point and then scurry back into your hole whenever someone points out the flaws in your argument.

from a guy who thinks this reporter should be hung out to dry because her employer made it's bed? Gee

Fox News is not a reason to go after a press person. If there is legal reason to prosecute regardless of news affliation then go for it, if not then(much as I hate Fox News) it would be wrong to go after her.

Creates a bad precident and opens the door for more legal sniping on reporters if you don't have actual solid standing beyond affiliation.

Now back to the rest of the thread which will no doubt have the normal shills and trolls blaming liberals and so on so forth.

skullkrusher:Rwa2play: randomjsa: Liberals were perfectly willing to throw reporters in prison during the Valerie Plame incident. The right of reporters to protect their sources was cast right out the damn window by the ardent free press supporters known as liberals.

So the rest of that headline is "...the reporter doesn't have information that can be used against a Republican"

I love how you go right for your point and then scurry back into your hole whenever someone points out the flaws in your argument.

from a guy who thinks this reporter should be hung out to dry because her employer made it's bed? Gee

Rwa2play:skullkrusher: Rwa2play: randomjsa: Liberals were perfectly willing to throw reporters in prison during the Valerie Plame incident. The right of reporters to protect their sources was cast right out the damn window by the ardent free press supporters known as liberals.

So the rest of that headline is "...the reporter doesn't have information that can be used against a Republican"

I love how you go right for your point and then scurry back into your hole whenever someone points out the flaws in your argument.

from a guy who thinks this reporter should be hung out to dry because her employer made it's bed? Gee

Magorn:This always happens. COntrary to popular belief there is no legal "reporter's privilege" the way there is for doctors, lawyers, priests , spouses, therapists, etc. So what always happens is somebody get pissed over the leak, the reporter is pressed to reveal thier source, they refuse, a judge orders them to do it, they still refuse, they go to jail for contempt of court, much media hand-wringing ensues, at some point the judge realizes that the reporter is never going to comply, at which point they have the option of converting the case into a criminal contempt prosecution for which the reporter can get six months in jail, or letting the reporter go, which they invariably do. So why do it at all? Because A) the law says they have to, and B) a lot of times there is hope that seeing the reporter rot in jial puts pressure on the source to out themselves

Does it ever work? The usual expression about fighting an opponent who buys ink by the barrel and all. I'm sure all judges have dirty laundry, and motivated news rooms can make for difficult opponents.

randomjsa:Liberals were perfectly willing to throw reporters in prison during the Valerie Plame incident. The right of reporters to protect their sources was cast right out the damn window by the ardent free press supporters known as liberals.

So the rest of that headline is "...the reporter doesn't have information that can be used against a Republican"

Judy Miller went to jail because while technically she was a reporter she was also considered an unindicted co-conspirator to a serious crime, on Scotter lIbby went to jail to bloack the investigation of

Zalan:Yeah, it must get frustrating for the many(not all) conservatives who would deny rights to anyone who doesn't share their political views/values to see that the 'libruls' want to defend the rights of someone who works for the other team.

This is why we have whistleblower protection laws (yes that are rarely followed). If you illegally obtain information and post it to the public, lets say I hacked someone's medical information and posted it online, that is breaking the law. You can't just claim that you are a reporter and suddenly its alright. Your actions need to serve the public good and there needs to be a reason you blew the whistle. This reporter has neither.

randomjsa:Liberals were perfectly willing to throw reporters in prison during the Valerie Plame incident. The right of reporters to protect their sources was cast right out the damn window by the ardent free press supporters known as liberals.

So the rest of that headline is "...the reporter doesn't have information that can be used against a Republican"

Man, it's a good thing there aren't any examples of the liberal MSM siding with Fox News in a conflict with a Democratic administration. Because that could be embarrassing for you.

Dick Cheney and his flying monkey minionsin prison during the Valerie Plame incident. The right of reporters to protect their sources was cast right out the damn window by the ardent free press supporters known as liberals.

So the rest of that headline is "...the reporter doesn't have information that can be used against a Republican"

Does *everything* have to come out of your ass? That's some high-fiber diet you got there.

\it was Cheney and his flunkies who outed Plame, proudly, to a douchebag reporter. We all knew who the criminal was right then\\ I know, I know - "fact-free zone". Please proceed, Governor

Zalan:Yeah, it must get frustrating for the many(not all) conservatives who would deny rights to anyone who doesn't share their political views/values to see that the 'libruls' want to defend the rights of someone who works for the other team.

I don't think we're reading the same thread. It seems like most of the liberals in here are fine with her rotting in jail.

Contribution Corsair:Fox News is not a reason to go after a press person. If there is legal reason to prosecute regardless of news affliation then go for it, if not then(much as I hate Fox News) it would be wrong to go after her.

Creates a bad precident and opens the door for more legal sniping on reporters if you don't have actual solid standing beyond affiliation.

Now back to the rest of the thread which will no doubt have the normal shills and trolls blaming liberals and so on so forth.

Probably.

Gawker was less than explicit on a couple of points, and their sources were mostly Fox News whining and whinging about the liberal media not giving this 24/7 coverage. The main questions are when the gag order and the story were released (it is implied the gag order came down AFTER the story, but not stated) and what local whistleblower laws are.

I can see a situation where this would be justified, but it is a highly unlikely situation.

The guy who shot three cops dead in Pittsburgh because they were "coming to take his guns" had numerous right-wing screeds in his possession by such notable idiots as Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity.

Jared Lee Loughner, though fundamentally more insane than anything else, was clearly ininfluenced by a number of what are traditionally right-wing, anti-government conspiracy theories.

Jim David Adkisson explicitly went out looking to "kill liberals, African-Americans, homosexuals" and made a kill list based off of Bernard Goldberg's book "100 People Who are Screwing Up America".

Timothy McVeigh was a far right anti-government lunatic.

Wade Michael Page was a white supremacist.

I don't know if I'd say somethign as specific as mass killers are usually republicans, but there's a pretty clear correlation between conservative ideology (and especially far-right ideology) and violence against people. Crazy-ass left-wingers seem to be more intent with burning down property and smashing windows. Crazy-ass right-wingers seem to have an unfortunate tendency to prefer shooting people or blowing them up.

It's almost like when you have multiple fat farks on TV and radio all day long vilifying people they disagree with as subhuman and blaming all of the world's ills on those people that some of the less stable viewers and listeners might not react in the most level-headed and responsible way.

If only there were a historical precedent for that type of propaganda and its eventual outcomes that we could learn from....

PackofJokers:randomjsa: Liberals were perfectly willing to throw reporters in prison during the Valerie Plame incident. The right of reporters to protect their sources was cast right out the damn window by the ardent free press supporters known as liberals.

So the rest of that headline is "...the reporter doesn't have information that can be used against a Republican"

Man, it's a good thing there aren't any examples of the liberal MSM siding with Fox News in a conflict with a Democratic administration. Because that could be embarrassing for you.

And on Thursday, the Treasury Department tried to exclude FOX News from pool coverage of interviews with a key official. It backed down after strong protests from the press."All the networks said, that's it, you've crossed the line," said CBS News White House correspondent Chip Reid.

And here's a post from Daily Kos, on their mainpage even, saying that this story needs more coverage.